Saturday, May 1, 2010

Ginger is awesome. It can help prevent nausea, settle your tummy, makes an awesome tea, and is delicious candied. Oh, ginger, you rock.

So, when my Ready for Dessert book by my favorite blogger and pastry chef, David Lebovitz came in the mail, I immediately decided to make this Fresh Ginger Cake first!

The cake uses 4 ounces of fresh ginger. You can chop it by hand, but I pulled out my mini-processor and whizzed it around. I guess that made about 1/2-3/4 cup of fresh ginger.

This is a pretty strong ginger cake. Probably not for children...but great for adults with a taste for ginger.

A nice scoop of whipped cream would be lovely! That would provide a nice balance to the strong ginger flavor.

Epicurious recipe says to use a 9 x 3 inch pan, but David's book says 9 x 2. You need a 9 x 3 or a tall springform. I believe this will come over the edge on a 9 x 2 pan, and you would lose lots of yummy cake. Look how tall this cake is!

1. Preheat over to 350°F. Put rack in the center of the oven. The Epicurious recipe recommends a 9 by 3-inch round cake pan or a 9 1/2 inch springform pan (bottom lined with parchment), but Ready for Dessert says 9 inch springform or 9 x 2-inch round cake pan. However, based on the size of the cake, I don't recommend a 9 x 2 inch pan...it'll be too small. 2. Peel, slice, and chop the ginger very fine with a knife, use a grater, or food processor. I used my mini-food processor for quick work. 3. Mix together the molasses, sugar, and oil in a large bowl. I used a whisk. 4. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper and set aside.5. Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan, stir in the baking soda, and then mix the hot water into the molasses mixture. Stir in the ginger.6. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the batter.7. Add the eggs, and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined.8. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 1 hour, until the top of the cake springs back lightly when pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I checked mine after 50 minutes, and it was done at 55 minutes. 9. If the top of the cake browns too quickly before the cake is done, drape a piece of foil over it and continue baking.10. Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. I let mine cool completely overnight and removed it the next morning. Remove the cake from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.11. I think a nice dollop of lightly sweetened whip cream would be lovely with this cake. David recommends whipped cream, ice cream or fruit compote. His book has a recipe for a raspberry plum compote.

Wow--that's a lot of ginger in one fine looking cake! My copy of Ready for Dessert came yesterday and, browsing through it, I just can't decide which delectable item to try first. I like that you took the plunge for us. You are an inspirational dynamo that way! As a librarian, did you get the book earlier than the rest of us? :)

I got the book this week and this recipe is one I've already flagged to make, you've inspired me to check how much ginger I have in the house, it looks divine. Do you think it would work divided into muffin cases?

This looks delicious and I also LOVE ginger. I just made some cookies that had fresh ginger, crystalized ginger, and powdered ginger, probably right up your alley. ;) I will definitely be trying out this cake soon, or maybe making muffins as Lisa suggested!

If you don't have a deep pan, you can get around that by making a paper collar for your pan. Cut a strip of parchment paper the height you want. Butter the side of your pan and stand the parchment up around the edge. The weight of the batter will hold the paper at the bottom so the cake can rise along the parchment.

I just made this today. Mine was also dark and a little sunken in the middle, so I was looking for images to confirm if that's what it was supposed to look like. :) Our house smells incredible, so warm and spicy! It was the perfect thing to make on such a cold, gray day. My 7 year old loves it.

I love this recipe! I usually make it as a bundt because I can't make it cook evenly as a single layer. But tonight I reduced the oil to 2/3 cup, added fresh cranberries, and made "muffins" -- they were also delicious.